The Logistics City Chair is dedicated to research on urban logistics, with a focus on two scientific axes:

THEME 1. Urban logistics real estate, new economic models for metropolitan logistics real estate, strategies for the implementation of logistics buildings in large metropolises.

OBJECTIVES:

• Logistics sprawl and urban logistics: analysis of territorial dynamics linked to the evolution of the location of logistics activities, at the “macro” level
• Urban logistics planning: analysis of public policies, the history of the production of the first buildings, the economic paradox of urban logistics and regulatory obstacles, at the “micro” level

RESEARCH RESULTS:

• Research report: Research Report Amazon Warehouses in the US Analysis of the spatial logics of Amazon warehouses following a multiscalar and temporal approach. For  a geography of Amazon’s logistics system in the United States by Matthieu Schorung and Thibault Lecourt
• Research report: Relationships among urban characteristics, real estate market, and spatial patterns of warehouses in different geographic contexts, by Renata de Oliveira (Professor – Department of Applied Social Sciences Federal Center for Technological Education of Minas Gerais), Matthieu Schorung and Laetitia Dablanc
• Brief: Economic models for urban logistics real estate, by Loïck Ulliac
• Brief: The Grand Paris Seine Ouest, A territory served by logistics: territorial diagnosis of urban logistics, by Vincent Escarfail
• Report part 1 and part 2: Diagnosis of the logistics real estate of the Grand Paris Seine Ouest and its development prospects, by students of the M2 of the École d’Urbanisme de Paris and the École des Ponts ParisTech (in French)
• Presentation: Relationships among urban characteristics, real estate market and spatial patterns of warehouses in different geographic contexts, by Renata de Oliveira, Matthieu Schorung and Laetitia Dablanc
• Presentation: Locational patterns of warehouses in 74 cities around the world, a comparative meta-analysis, by Laetitia Dablanc, Laura Palacios-Argüello and Leise de Oliveira
• Dissertation: Logistics in the restructuring of an urban boulevard, the case of the RD932 project, by Gaëtan-Max Jayle (in French)
• Dissertation: Study of the logistical dimension of the local urban plan (PLU) of Paris, by Damien Zachert (in French) 
• Report: Study on intermediate logistics real estate in the inner suburbs (“la petite couronne”), the case of the Est Ensemble territory, by students of the M1 of the École d’Urbanisme de Paris (in French)

THEME 2. Trends and new practices in consumption, production and distribution impacting on urban logistics and warehousing of the future, in a prospective vision.

OBJECTIVES:

• On the one hand, the collection of data and indicators for several major cities (including Paris) relating to the flows generated by new forms of e-commerce
• On the other hand, the analysis of their potential impacts, in particular through interviews with and observations of e-commerce and logistics players in case studies

RESEARCH RESULTS:

• Scientific paper: Autonomous e-commerce delivery in ordinary and exceptional circumstances. The French case, by Heleen Buldeo Rai, Sabrina Touami and Laetitia Dablanc
• Brief: Cyclo-Logistics in Greater Paris, alternative models for last-mile deliveries, the integration of cyclo-logistics in real estate projects, by Damien Zachert
• Brief: Omnichannel commerce, logistics operations in urban shopping centers, by Paul Marcher
• Brief: The rise of urban logistics in Paris, logistics real estate, innovation and experimentation in dense urban environments, by Romain Casanova
• Scientific paper: The net environmental impact of online shopping, beyond the substitution bias, by Heleen Buldeo Rai
• Dissertation and overview of initiatives on autonomous vehicles : Autonomous delivery vehicles, a solution for the future?, by Sabrina Touami (in French)
• Article: E-commerce and its impact on cities: logistics transformations in the shadows, by Heleen Buldeo Rai and Laetitia Dablanc (in French)
• Article: E-commerce: towards the automation of urban goods transport?, by Heleen Buldeo Rai and Sabrina Touami (in French)
• Article: Autonomous Vehicles for Urban Deliveries, by Heleen Buldeo Rai, Sabrina Touami and Laetitia Dablanc

Surveys on instant delivery micro-entrepreneurs

• Report: instant delivery micro-entrepreneurs in Nantes, by Laetitia Dablanc, Laurent Proulhac and Nicolas Raimbault
• Report: the first (2016) and second (2018) round of surveys in Paris, by Laetitia Dablanc, Neila Saidi, Anne Aguilera, Alina Bekka, Nicolas Lazarevic, Josselin Rouhier, Philippe Bairras and Paul Marcher (in French)
• Report: the third (2019-2020) round of surveys in Paris, by Laetitia Dablanc, Anne Aguiléra, Laurent Proulhac, Léa Wester, Nicolas Louvet and José Palomo Rivas (in French)
• Report: the fourth (2021) round of surveys in Paris, by Laetitia Dablanc, Anne Aguiléra, C. Krier, F. Adoue and Nicolas Louvet (in French)
• Report: the fifth (2022) round of surveys in Paris, by Laetitia Dablanc, Anne Aguiléra, C. Krier, F. Adoue and Nicolas Louvet (in French)

Barometer of urban logistics in lockdown

The Logistics City chair has launched, with the support of the City of Paris, an initiative to increase knowledge and awareness of the situation of the urban logistics sector in times of lockdown:

• Barometer #1: March 26 – April 3, 2020, by Laetitia Dablanc and Heleen Buldeo Rai
• Barometer #2: April 3 – 10, 2020, by Laetitia Dablanc and Heleen Buldeo Rai
• Barometer #3: April 10 – 17, 2020, by Laetitia Dablanc and Heleen Buldeo Rai
• Barometer #4: April 17 – 24, 2020, by Laetitia Dablanc and Heleen Buldeo Rai
• Barometer #5: April 24 – May 1st, 2020, by Laetitia Dablanc and Heleen Buldeo Rai
• Barometer #6: May 1st – 8, 2020, by Laetitia Dablanc and Heleen Buldeo Rai

THEME 3. Public policy, logistics governance and data.

OBJECTIVES:

• Analyse how public and local authorities address logistics governance and integrate it into their plans and strategies
• Analyse how public decisions concerning the environment, the battle against air pollution and the reduction of car use (ZEZ, LEZ) impact the organisation and strategies of private logistics players
• Identify the needs of local authorities for methods and tools to better understand and model urban goods mobility

RESEARCH RESULTS:

• Presentation: “Les zones à faibles émissions et la logistique urbaine”, by Laetitia Dablanc
• Brief: Low-emission zones in France and Europe: Overview, challenges and avenues for sustainable urban logistics, by Lucas Belliard
• Brief: The challenge of logistic data collection, by Raphaël Collin

Training courses of the Logistics City Chair

The Chair is involved in various courses and supports student workshops in several university programs, for more information please contact Laetitia Dablanc (laetitia.dablanc@univ-eiffel.fr).

Scientific communication, dissemination of knowledge and valorisation 

For more information, visit the French Twitter page and the English Twitter page of the chaire, as well as our LinkedIn page. The Chaire launched an observatory that discusses the state-of-art on business-to-consumer e-commerce developments, its stakeholders, mobilities and warehousing: the e-commerce mobilities Observatory.

Dissemination of knowledge and valorisation

The description of the field of study and the scientific program of the Chair were the subject of a white paper on new urban logistics entitled “Welcome to Logistics City”. The second issue of Welcome To Logistics City was published in June 2021, on e-commerce, its mobilities and its impacts on the city.

A Film on Deliveries in New York City

“City Tour. The Everyday Life of Delivery Workers in New York City”, 2019 (1h32) by Sandrine Wenglenski, assistant professor at Université Gustave Eiffel. In New York City, deliveries to commercial properties and home deliveries are booming and generate an unprecedented context. The film aims to present the concrete terms and conditions of the delivery work, the ordinary tasks, and the practical organisation of this daily performance, throughout four portraits of today’s delivery workers in the dense area of New York. Project funded by University of Paris-East (Research Unit LVMT) and Volvo Research and Educational Foundations (MetroFreight Paris). Links to the teaser and the video (password: Delivery).

In the last months, the Chair has been involved in numerous media and professional seminars (online or in person):

• French-American Innovations Days, Rencontres Transports & Mobilités, Pan Hellenic Convention on Transport, CILOG Mexico, FNAU, IIMA CTL, SITL, Fédération des Usagers de la Bicyclette, International Transport Forum, Ingénieurs et Scientifiques de France, Annales des Mines, American Society of Civil Engineers, ORT&L Grand Est, Pembina Institute, Sciences Po Paris.
• France Culture, France Inter, Libération, Tf1, L’Opinion, Capital M6, Le Parisien, La Croix, Les Echos.

Interventions of the chair

• Conférence Régionale de la Logistique, December 20, 2021: presentation “Dynamiques d’implantation des espaces logistiques en Île-de-France” by Laetitia Dablanc
• La Poste, Decembre 9, 2021: presentation “L’impact environnemental du e-commerce” by Heleen Buldeo Rai
• Delft University of Technology, Decembre 1st, 2021: presentation “So many new warehouses in Paris today: why?”, by Laetitia Dablanc
• Office for Science and Technology of the Embassy of France in the United States, Octobre 26, 2021: presentation “E-commerce logistics in Paris” by Laetitia Dablanc
• Rencontres Transports et Mobilités, Octobre 19, 2021: round table “Quelle place pour les marchandises dans la ville ?” with Laetitia Dablanc
• BIVEC-GIBET, Octobre 8, 2021: presentation “The impact of COVID-19 on urban logistics” by Heleen Buldeo Rai
• Fédération Nationale des Agences d’Urbanisme, September 23, 2021: presentation “Tour d’horizon des méthodes à explorer pour obtenir des données supplémentaires sur la mobilité urbaine des marchandises” by Laetitia Dablanc
• Centre for Transportation and Logistics, September 15, 2021: presentation and webinar “The Impact of COVID-19 on Urban Logistics” by Laetitia Dablanc
• SITL, September 14, 2021: round table “Comment mieux responsabiliser le consommateur face aux enjeux de la logistique urbaine ?” by Laetitia Dablanc
• Fédération des Usagers de la Bicyclette, July 4, 2021: presentation “Vélo et logistique” by Laetitia Dablanc
• Forum Vies Mobiles, June 24, 2021: conference “Quel avenir pour les livreurs de repas à vélo ?”
• LabEx, June 15, 2021: round table “Des futurs urbains post-mobiles ?”
• ABRALOG/AFILOG webinar, June 3, 2021: round table “One year after – what impact Covid has had on logistics?”
• Annales des Mines, June 9, 2021: round table “Réponses numériques à la crise sanitaire”
• Urbanism Next Europe 2021, June 10, 2021: round table “The urgency to integrate city logistics in urban planning for livable cities of the future”
• Les Echos, June 3, 2021: Article “Deliveroo, Uber Eats : qui se cache derrière le livreur de repas parisien ?”
• Seminar of research group SPLOTT, May 10, 2021: Presentation “Relationships among urban characteristics, real estate market and spatial patterns of warehouses in different geographic contexts”
• e-SMART, April 22, 2021: Presentation “Enjeux et solutions pour la logistique urbaine : Tour d’horizon des bonnes pratiques internationales et focus sur les données”
• Cap Digital, April 1st, 2021: Presentation “Les mobilités du e-commerce”
• SafeShops, January 21, 2021: Presentation “why online shopping can be, but not necessarily is, more sustainable than physical shopping”
• Blueprint Future, Decembre 20, 2020: Article “Logistics City: A Q&A With Laetitia Dablanc”
• Matinale de la Chaire, December 11, 2020: Presentation “Décarboner la logistique urbaine”
• Interclub FNAU, December 11, 2020: Presentation “De nouveaux métiers pour la logistique urbaine”
• The Correspondent, December 3, 2020: Article “Doing holiday shopping online? Here’s why you shouldn’t choose the fast delivery option”
• ViàGrandParis, November 12, 2020: Video “L’ explosion du ecommerce oblige à réinventer la distribution des colis dans nos villes”
• Ville, Rail & Transports, November 2020: Tribune “Evaluer l’impact environnemental de la logistique urbaine”
• CARA, October 19, 2020: Summary video and complete podcast “Impacts & enseignements de la crise du covid19 sur le transport de marchandises”
• Ville, Rail & Transports, September 2020: Tribune “Logistique. Mieux connaître les livreurs des plateformes numériques dans les grandes villes”
• Transports Infrastructures & Mobilité, July – August 2020: Article “Quand la livraison « s’ubérise »”
• Transports Infrastructures & Mobilité, July – August 2020: Article “E-commerce : vers l’automatisation du transport de marchandises en ville ?”
• World Resources Institute, July 9, 2020: Video “Triple Zero Freight for Cities Webinar Series : Introduction to Designing a Policy Roadmap for Urban Freight”
• BRT+ Webinar Series, June 19, 2020: Video “Paris freight mobility system after Covid-19”
• Meeting of the Minds, June 10, 2020: Video  “Lessons from the Lockdown in Paris”
• Supply Chain Village, June 7, 2020: Video “L’impact de la pandémie sur la logistique urbaine”
• Futura-Mobility, June 3, 2020: Article “La place des micromobilités dans la mobilité”
• SITLive, June 25, 2020: “Logistique Urbaine : Quel modèle social pour le dernier kilomètre ?”
• FuturaMobility, June 3, 2020: Presentation “Micromobilités : la logistique urbaine”
• UrbaParis, June 3, 2020: Video #1minuteurba: “Qu’est-ce-que la logistique urbaine ?”
• Ville, Rail & Transports, June 2020: Tribune “La logistique urbaine face à la sortie de crise”
• News Tank Cities, May 26, 2020: Report “La logistique urbaine transformée par le Covid-19 et l’enjeu climatique ?”
• POLIS, May 20, 2020: Report et presentation Post-Lockdown Mobility webinar: “Urban logistics in lockdown”

Discover the results of the third survey of instant delivery micro-entrepreneurs in Paris

The report, accessible via this link (in French), aims to present the exhaustive results collected during the survey that was carried out by the Gustave Eiffel University/IFSTTAR with the help of the 6T research office in December 2019/January 2020 on a sample of 300 “instant delivery” workers in Eastern Paris. This survey, financed by DGITM, Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition and the Logistics City Chair, is the third on the subject.

Antwerp Summer School on Urban Logistics (17 – 21 August 2020)

Academic circles as well as governments have only grown the focus on urban logistics in recent years. This is because, on the one hand, more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas and they account for 70% of total GDP worldwide (UN, 2017). On the other hand, the urban logistics that brings the goods to these consumers and economic activities causes 20-30% of the total number of kilometers driven and 16-50% of the emissions in these areas (Dablanc, 2007). Therefore, planning and managing the urban transport is key for a sustainable development of cities. These form the topic of the second Urban Logistics Summer School. For more information, visit the summer school’s website.

Webinar “Complete Streets: Finding Space for Freight”

During this time of enormous growth in on-demand e-commerce, freight travel behavior patterns are distinct and rapidly evolving, generating unique demands for on- and even off-street space. Long term, as cities around the world adopt a “complete streets” approach, freight must be considered. By redesigning streets to allocate street and curbside space for transit and non-motorized travel, these cities are establishing how best to maintain a safe and efficient movement of goods while keeping pedestrians and cyclists safe. During the webinar which is accessible via this link, Alison Conway reviews challenges identified in a survey of cities around the U.S. and discusses international best practices to approach design, regulations, operations, and demand management for freight.

Find many research results in urban freight in Paris, Los Angeles, New York and Seoul: the Metrofreight center

MetroFreight (MF) is a consortium led by the METRANS Transportation Center and housed at the University of Southern California that whose main mission is to develop innovative strategies to manage urban freight and its impacts that are transferable to metropolitan areas around the world. The MetroFreight team is multidisciplinary, with particular strength in planning and public policy. French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks (IFFSTAR) at Gustave Eiffel University is one of the consortium members since 2013. For further details please visit: https://www.metrans.org/metrofreight

Reports from the Transportation Research Board

The annual Transportation Research Board (TRB) meeting took place in Washington, D.C. from January 12^th until January 16^th. The program attracted more than 13.000 transportation professionals from around the world, covering all transportation modes and addressing topics of interest to policy makers, administrators, practitioners, researchers and representatives of government, industry and academic institutions. A report of the “Freight Day” session on “Sustainable and Efficient Solutions for Last Mile Distribution”, organized by Bilge Atasoy and Laetitia Dablanc can be found here. Attached as well are Laetitia Dablanc’s presentations on on-demand instant delivery services and recent trends in last mile logistics solutions around the world.

Photography exhibition « On n’est pas des robots », on workers in logistics

This exhibition presents the photography work that Cécile Cuny, Nathalie Mohadjer and Hortense Soichet realised within a collective research project on “the world of workers in logistics”. The exhibition takes place in Maison Robert Doisneau in Gentilly as from February 21^st until April 19^th 2020 (vernissage February 20^th as from 18:00). Entry is free of charge. The photographs on display in this exhibition are based on a three-year study bringing together photography and sociology, as part of a contract between the urban planning laboratory of the University of Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée and photography artists.

The Chair also interacts with the international scientific community at ITS World Congress 2019 in Singapore: 

• The report of the visit to the Singapore Post Regional Logistics Centre (SingPost) is available here.
• Roundtable report on urban logistics is available  here.

Laetitia Dablanc’s speech at the annual meeting of logistics experts from Berlin and Brandenburg on the theme of rail and urban logistics, 21 November 2019. The presentation is available here.